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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Loss of the FLGS Krystal Keep

The economy has been tough on many people and I can say that everyone one I know has had the last year or so affect someone they know personally. Things are rough at the moment for several people and while several of us are making due and getting by there are others who are on the streak of tough luck. Today’s post is about the loss of my FLGS. When I don’t play at a buddy’s house this store is where I played my casual pickup games. Great space, great terrain, and really they tried to create a place for the miniature and historical miniature community more so than any store I have personally seen since I have been in the hobby. I am a event person because of how my life and schedule work out so I enjoy a day of gaming at a tourney. So at least half of my gaming is at events and all my casual gaming was broken up between my FLGS and my buddy’s houses. I just cleared my schedule to be able to go to the combat patrol event happening next month and I had some time this evening so I headed down to pick up a few things I needed and I found the lights off and this message taped to the glass.

“Open letter to all:

KrystalKeep Games & Hobbies will be closed for the next two weeks for a store-wide inventory. When we reopen on Saturday, November 19th, 2011, all products and fixtures will go on sale. Our last day of business will be Friday, December 30th, 2011.We opened our doors in September 2007 with a business plan, a goal to provide a place where gamers of all types could come in and have fun with those who shared their interests, and an exit plan (a necessary evil for any small business). Our first few years were actually above plan, so when business slowed along with the economy, we made adjustments where we could and tapped our reserves to ride out the downturn. As distributors closed, game lines were discontinued, and manufacturers raised costs, we continued to make adjustments. After two years of increasingly grim forecasts and despite our best efforts, we have finally come to the point where we simply can no longer support the business in the hope that it will recover.All events currently scheduled between now and the end of the year will still be held, and the gaming space will continue to be available as long as we are open. At this time we will be maintaining the current days and hours of operation (subject to change as the sale progresses). We will be closed the following days:

•Thursday, November 24th•Friday, November 25th•Saturday, December 24th•Sunday, December 25th•Saturday, December 31st

To everyone who has supported us over the years, we want to give a heart-felt thank you.Sincerely,

Rick W. VerHage, Owner

Rajesh H. Nanda, Owner

It’s a sad day for the local community as we lose a great place to game at. I have a friend or two that used to own a small business and a buddy who actually pretty much ran a game store so I understand that at the end of the day it’s a business. It takes hard work, planning and some luck. (A fact often driven home by the postings of Loquacious over on house of paincakes) Times are a tough for the small business owner and this drives it home.

There is one last 40k event on the 19th of Dec it’s a combat patrol event. 500 points I don’t have the details of the event but if I get them I will post them up here. This is basically the last 40k event that store will host before shutting its doors. I plan on going, and I would encourage anyone who is in the area or who ever spent some time throwing dice at Krystal Keep to come down and throw dice one last time while saying good bye to the place.

About Me

You may know Drkmorals from such sites as MWC, FTW, STC, and now 40k Global. His personal site is Emperor's Codex. All these places he randomly spills 40k nonsense and tries to impact the community in a positive manner.